Number crunching for the Makos and NZ [Fairfax]
He remains in the background, but performance analyst Brodie Hewlett is a vital component of the Tasman Makos support staff.
He's the computer guy, the techno whiz and the go-to person whenever Makos coach Kieran Keane needs specific information or statistical clarification about any aspects of the team's performance.
Hewlett, 30, has been with the Makos since their inception in 2006, and he's good at his job. So good, in fact, that after another successful ITM Cup campaign this year, which saw the Makos qualify for the premiership final, his efforts have been recognised by his appointment as the performance analyst for the New Zealand under-20 team for next year's junior world championships in Italy.
Hewlett successfully applied for the New Zealand job after his acquaintance and current Taranaki team analyst, Doug Neilson, vacated it.
He'll be heading to the initial squad camp in Palmerston North, starting on November 27, where he'll be working alongside coaches Scott Robertson, Tana Umaga and Makos assistant Leon MacDonald.
"My role's the same as what I do at the Makos, which is performance analysis, and I'm basically information support and information provider to the coaches," he said.
The junior world championship are next June, with various camps, training clinics and games planned in the interim.
"I think it'll be quite busy between now and then," Hewlett said. "It's a new role, with different coaches, and there's going to be some new ideas, I'd imagine, from those coaches. I think there's different challenges going overseas and working over there, particularly in my role with collecting video data, so I'm not sure what to expect in how we obtain all the information.
"But I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be pretty exciting working with that team. I particularly enjoy working with young players as well. It's pretty cool when you can see the progress that they make."
Hewlett has built up plenty of expertise working with the Makos over the past nine seasons, with Nelson representative cricketer Darius Skeaping joining him as a second analyst for the past two years. His former experience as a track sprinter has also seen him involved with the players' speed training and some of their fitness testing.
Hewlett said that of the four Tasman head coaches he had been involved with, Keane had been the most hands-on in terms of computer analysis. "I work quite closely with KK [Keane] and Leon [MacDonald] to just basically work out what information they want and how they want to see it, and a lot of it's just crunching the numbers.
"[Keane's] definitely more involved than the other coaches that I've worked with in the past at Tasman. He has very specific things that he wants, very specific information.
"For him, it's about painting a picture, and KK wants a picture painted for him to back up what he's feeling in his gut. I'll go to him and say, ‘Here's the information', [and] hopefully it matches up with what he's thinking - which it tends to do."
It's a demanding and fulfilling job - and, just as the Makos attempt to raise their level of performance with each passing season, Hewlett's also looking for new ways to improve his own contribution and presentation.
"Every year we're just trying to move things forward a little bit more and do things a little bit differently and come up with a few innovations.
"We've sort of done that this year. We brought a bit of new technology in with using iPads in our analysis. We had a couple of different ways to present the information to the players.
"But it's just been great to be a part of it over the last couple of years. Especially because I've been involved right from the start, just the growth of the union and, in particular, the way the community's got in behind the team in the last two or three seasons."
- The Nelson Mail
